Who is Deon Fredericks? Why Is His Secondment To SAA Important?

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA  JUNE 13: Telkom Group CFO Deon Fredericks at the companys annual results presentation in Sandton on June 13, 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Foto24/Lerato Maduna)

Born in Kuilsrivier in Cape Town, he is a strong defender of sustainable entities. Fredericks a leader who has built up valuable experience in finance at Telkom for decades.

He has been part of finance team that has helped Telkom transform from being a monopoly into a competitor against thriving rivals – mobile phone operators, Internet Service Providers and fibre players.

When Telkom appointed Fredericks to the position of CFO in 2014 the big boss Sipho Maseko stated:

“We have been on a determined path to appointing the industry’s best to lead Telkom – I am pleased that with Deon’s appointment our Exco structure is complete and ready to take Telkom forward.”

Fredericks, who has held senior positions at Telkom since 1993 including the position of deputy CFO since in 2011, is regarded as one of the best CFOs in the country and has assisted Maseko to reinvent the telecoms firm.

In the past, he has acted as Telkom CFO, which culminated in his appointment to the position full time.

With his expertise and valuable experience, Fredericks has ensured that Telkom’s pursuit of stakeholder wealth creation is paramount.

He has managed to ensure that Telkom has a strong balance sheet with enough capacity to raise capital investments.

As part of the successful reinvigoration, Telkom has its own subsidiaries – Openserve, Gyro, and Telkom Mobile, etc.

In achieving the feat, Fredericks and Maseko were ably guided by chairman Jabu Mabuza into making Telkom a model for running an efficient state-owned enterprise.

By all indications, Fredericks is a very good CFO and his skills are much needed at struggling SAA